EDMONTON, Alberta — Adam Foote had so much fun serving as Avalanche captain this season, he wants to do it again.

“Right now, I’d say yeah, I want to play another season,” Foote said Wednesday night. “I feel good and feel like I have my legs underneath me still. But first things first; right now, all I’m thinking about is the playoffs.”

With the Avs having clinched a playoff spot Tuesday, Foote was one of several players given the night off against Edmonton. In 66 games, Foote has nine assists and a plus-9 — tied with Brett Clark and Kyle Quincey for best on the team.

“I don’t want to just contribute as a leader or older and experienced guy. I want to be able to play the game,” Foote said.

Foote said there were “a lot of smiles” on the Avs’ flight from Vancouver to Edmonton on Tuesday night, after Colorado’s 12th playoff-clinching moment in its 14 years in Denver. The smiles erased what Foote called a lot of stress around the team the previous two to three weeks when things suddenly went south.

“The best analogy I can make is, it’s like you get to the ninth hole, and you double bogey it and start gripping it,” Foote said. “You try your best chip, and it goes nowhere. It seemed almost like we had to be caught (in the standings) before we started relaxing for the back nine. I think it was more mental than anything.”

Footnotes.

Avalanche right wing Milan Hejduk flew back to Denver on Wednesday for personal reasons. It is not believed to be a serious situation, but the Avs want to keep the reasons private. . . . First-liners Paul Stastny and TJ Galiardi got the night off against the Oilers. Each has been bothered by nagging injuries of late, but they are nothing serious.

WASHINGTON — Thirty games into the 82-game NHL season, and nearly six weeks after the Matt Duchene trade, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic discussed the state of his team before Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.